Peek-a-Boo and Spooky Slot Canyons

Peek-a-Boo and Spooky Slot Canyons is a 3.1 mile heavily trafficked loop trail located near Escalante, Utah that offers scenic views and is rated as moderate. The trail is primarily used for hiking, walking, nature trips, and birding and is best used from April until November.

DISTANCE

3.1 miles

ELEVATION GAIN

488 feet

ROUTE TYPE

Loop

kid friendly

birding

hiking

nature trips

walking

views

muddy

scramble

no dogs

Awesome slot canyons that just keep going & going. Beautiful sights and easy to moderate hike. Definitely recommend the trail.
Call (435) 826-5499 before setting out - Hole in the Rock Road is generally passable except in heavy snow, but the spur road to the trailhead is often impassable for sedans. dogs are not recommended (even on leash) due to heavy use. camping is available, register at trailhead and camp only on disturbed areas.
TAKE EXTRA WATER (if not for yourself, for others)- cellphone service is spotty
and medical help is not close.

Amy P.

Takes about an hour to drive to the canyons from town. Watch for cows when driving and be safe! Once you start the hike, you head down to the wash sooner than you may think- so look for the cairnes to direct you. Peek-a-boo has a steep 12’ entrance but after that is beautiful and easy! You then go into a wash and about a 1/2 mile in sand to Spooky slot canyon. Spooky is REALLY fun! Some areas are only 10” wide so it can get tight. I’m 5’5” and average size, and I had to squeeze through in some areas. The end of Spooky (if you do the loop with Peek-a-boo first) is really technical. I would say is even advanced so make sure you are prepared for scaling some boulders and being solution oriented. You’ll love this hike and I would recommend to anyone!!

Amazing! Awesome hike! Gets kind of technical in a few parts and not for the faint of heart, started feeling claustrophobic a little bit in spooky gulch but wasn’t too bad because the narrow part didn’t last too long. We went clockwise and getting down into the hole at spooky was a little ... spooky

sometimes (rarely) known together as Spook-a-Boo. TAKE WATER. dogs not recommended in Peek-a-Boo - steep. highly trafficked and not everyone knows what they're doing out there, don't underestimate this loop. DO NOT GO INTO BRIMSTONE (next canyon over) ALONE, WITHOUT ROPE - a photographer got stuck there for nine days years back, could've died

very popular slot canyons, often crowded. ASK for map and current conditions at GSENM Escalante VC (435) 826-5499 before setting out - Hole in the Rock Road is generally passable except in heavy snow, but the spur road to the trailhead is often impassable for sedans. dogs are not recommended (even on leash) due to heavy use. camping is available, register at trailhead and camp only on disturbed areas. TAKE EXTRA WATER (if not for yourself, for others) - novices overestimate their abilities and get into trouble here with deadly results, cellphone service is spotty and medical help is not close.

The route shown does not go thru Brimstone Gulch, so the title and description should be updated. Also...the map/route should be shortened to not go past the “0.4 mile shortcut”. If you continue past that, the trail is not well marked (very few cairns) and there isn’t anything worth seeing. Other than that, this trail is great. It is challenging, unique and fun. We hiked thru Spooky first (counterclockwise direction) and then ended on Peek-a-boo. You will need a “boost” out Spooky and a “hand” getting out of Peek-a-boo if you go this direction. It did seem like more people were hiking the trail clockwise. Either way...be prepared for a challenge. This trail is not for people who get claustrophobic.

Did this 11/18 and loved it! Hardly any others at all on a Saturday afternoon. We started with Peekaboo and then did Spooky per the majority of recommendations on this site. There was a bit of a climb into Peekaboo that was manageable without equipment. We did meet up with another couple and helped each other down the drop that many others have mentioned in Spooky. I don’t think I would have been able to climb up that part without rope and would definitely recommend doing Peekaboo first for this reason. It does get very tight, as many others have warned, but is so worth it. The whole hike was absolutely gorgeous and I can’t wait to go again!

Amazing hike. I'd follow the suggestion of doing peek-a-boo first as there is a 10' drop (or climb) that is far easier to descend than ascend in my opinion (w/o gear). Don't let the drop deter you as it's very manageable once you navigate where to plant your feet. Cannot stress this enough that this hike isn't for overweight or claustrophobic people. Spooky get's very narrow. Also, don't tell anyone about this gem. It's almost like a free version of Antelope Canyon!

Greg G.

hiking

3 months ago

Gotta do it. A couple of areas required rope for those who are overweight or otherwise not able to, for example, drop down from a 9 or 10 foot drop (in Spooky slot canyon) with the assistance of fellow hikers or (at the base of Peek-a-boo slot canyon) ascend a precarious 20 foot ascent up STEEP and slippery sandstone with a 10 foot drop at the bottom (I personally rescued 2 separate adult males at this point.

The drive to the parking lot is long and dusty. You will need to pay attention as the turn off is not called out by name. Going back into the lot, there is a split and if you don't have a lifted vehicle park in the first lot. Trial head is about 1 mile to the left of the first lot. Hike is great, spooky is tight and peekaboo is some climbing but both are really neat and beautiful. I would recommend starting in spooky which is off and around on the right. It makes the climbing is peekaboo much easier.

Great trail. Go up Peek-a-boo and down Spooky. Take the cut off trail across to Spooky and don’t follow the gps track shown above. There is a 6 foot drop through some sketchy rocks coming down Spooky. Much better than it looks actually. Take it down the middle. Plan at least 2 to 3 hours for this loop.

This was really cool, but unless you know what you're dealing with here, I wouldn't recommend doing this hike solo. The entrance to peekaboo was harder than I expected and I could've used an assist a time or two, but it was doable with lots of mud, sand, and scraped knees and elbows. I got to the boulders in Spooky though and said 'screw this.' If it hadn't been for some other hikers I'd meet earlier coming along and encouraging & helping me, I would have backed out of the canyon and headed back to the parking lot. Go over the first boulder or two in your path, then when you get to the big pileup, down under them. It's about a 10 foot drop and being short was a real disadvantage here. Even with 2 people helping me, I was about in tears half way down, sure I was going to fall, and there's definitely no going back up from there. There are a lot of different tracks in the sand and cairns here there and everywhere...I think it would be hard to get lost as long as you have basic hiking skills, but the map here is really helpful if you have any doubts. You won't have cell signal out there or anywhere around escalante for that matter, so load open your app and load the trail map somewhere that you can use their Wi-Fi and keep it open until you get out there. The loop overall doesn't cover that much distance, but unless you're a desert native, much of it is more physically demanding than your standard hike and the trek across the desert to get to/from the canyons is hot, exposed, dry, with sand whipping you in the face. Drink a couple liters of water throughout at least because you're losing it even if you don't realize it. This was an awesome experience and a lot of fun, but definitely BE PREPARED that it's on the harder side of moderate.

This was great, climbed up peak a boo, with knee deep water at the entrance, WOW! What a cool slot Canyon trail. Crossed over to Spooky! The trail was nothing but foot prints. Almost got lost! Came down Spooky slot Canyon trail, it was just as cool, very tight in some places, but made it thru with others going the other way. 9-17-17

Great hike not too much trafficked to explore slot canyons beyond the touristy 'Antelope canyons'. The entrance is hard to find. The hike itself is difficult as there are narrow and steep parts where you need 5 grade climbing techniques. Only advised with light luggage. Take plenty of water. Be aware of rattlesnakes.

This was much more difficult than we anticipated. We backpacked through (mainly because we just needed a place to sleep), and I don't recommend it. There were some pretty steep inclines and descents, and the trail wasn't marked very well in the beginning. Pretty challenging, but fun. The slots were neat. Spooky got so narrow at one point we turned around. Just bring day packs with plenty of water.